Fran is thirteen winters old. She was spoiled rotten by her parents only to grow up fast after being abuse by men daily. She was not a pretty girl having several large birthmarks scatter on her face, and her right eye was droopy, making her appear dumb. She uses her appearance to stare off into the distance and drool to fool everyone into thinking that she is stupid. While enduring the pain and humiliation so that she could wait for a time to poison everyone that harmed her, she has spent weeks putting together the plants needed to make the potion to kill everyone in the camp. All she needs to do is find a way to get to the camp kitchen and put the poison into the morning gruel they feed to everyone. If innocents die to get to the ones that harm her, so be it. She no longer cries after they killed her father and mother. Only hate has filled her heart. Fran learns to read and write by her mother, who hopes that her daughter would become useful as a servant or assistant and move onto a better life than a lowly serf. Fran's mother also taught her herbalism and learned some potion-making. Fran learns to make poison from several of the card shape slate of wood that had recipes on it. They were handed down from mother to daughter for many generations by her grandmothers on her mother's side. Her mother told her that some of the recipes go back several hundred years. All the wood slates are buried in her family back yard.

She spotted a man leading some women out of the brothel, making several trips sometimes carrying a woman on his shoulders. Realizing that he was rescuing the women, she felt it was her time to escape hoping that this man would lead her to a better place than here. Seeing that he was entering the tent again, she slips into the cooking area and pour her vial of potion into the morning gruel that was being made. With an evil smile on her face, she rushes back, trying to avoid being spotted. She was arriving just as the man was carrying another woman out of the back of the tent while leading a woman that used to work in the brothel to safety at the edge of the camp. After following them, she saw a cart with quite a few women around it. Fran was waiting for them to leave so she could sneak into the group of women and blended in. If this doesn't work out, she could always poison them and flee later.

Tex's night vision has to be one of the best abilities that he could have ever wish for if someone granted him a wish other than a ranch would have been nice too. With his eyesight, he was able to spot the sentries before they could have located them first. Killing them all was easy except for one that reacted to some sense of danger. The man stumbles back, barely avoiding the dagger only to slam into a tree stunning him. He was stunned long enough for Tex to tackle the man and plunge his dagger several times into the sentry. The man was able to leave a bloody scratch with his fingernails along Tex's left shoulder and neck as the man was dying. With the sound of the man last breathe Tex lowers him into a sitting position, Tex was already relieving the man of his money and gear that looks useful. The total number of items gathered from the killing the sentries that he dropped into the bottom of the cart. He found several bronze daggers, a couple of short bronze swords, and two short bows with quivers of arrows, the third bow, and quiver he kept for himself. After finding several bow strings on the men, he strung up one bow getting it ready to use in case one of the sentries run. Fortunately, they made it to the road and met Harold and Jimmy. Jesse surprise Tex when she pulls Tex to the side and heals his scratches on his neck and shoulder.

The trip back to the Thorn hedge was uneventful after getting everyone into the clearing he grabs Harold and brushes the road of the tracks leading back going east. About dawn, when there was a loud ruckus from the camp by the time they got back into the clearing. It seems that the camp found their dead sentries. Unbeknownst to Tex, a large group of men was poison when they ate their morning breakfast. Causing a ruckus because the leaders of the camp were out on a snipe hunt looking for a load of silver that was on an imaginative cart. It was shortly after that when the sentries were found dead, and horns began to sound as the camp prepares for a possible attack.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

Tex had everyone hide and kept quiet while passing out some bread that the cooks carrying with them to the cart and from the cart that he liberated from the grave robbers. Checking the supplies and seeing that he only has two days of food left to feed everyone. Remembering the map with the supplies depots on it, he pulls out the map and looks for the nearest one.

Seeing that the depot was ten miles from here near the route that he was planning on taking the women, he pointed out the place to Harold.

"Think we can check it and see if there any supplies?"

"We can try, but we will need the two carts to bring everyone." Harold pointed out.

Rubbing his face and realizing he no longer has a beard to stroke, he moves his hand back to the map. "If I remember right, there is an old logging road about a mile to the north of here that merge with that trail we were planning to take the women by to the farm. Think you can get both carts and the women to the farm?"

Tex was watching Harold as he looks over the map in thought and seeing him nod. "I think I can do it. What are you going to be doing?" he inquired

While pointing at the map to the northeast about three miles. "There may be some kidnapped children there that need to be rescued. I am heading out tonight and see if I can get them. I will meet you to the west of the village of Farwell at Kenny's old barn in two days at midnight. Cover your tracks when you leave here, we don't need an army on our backs."

Harold nods at him only to freeze as the sound of galloping horses. Tex looked toward the road and spotted a group of thirteen men on horses racing down the road. Some of the men look bloody and worn while some of the men are leading several horses behind them. It would seem the men that went out to capture his fake cart that was supposed to be carrying silver have returned empty-handed and short half of their people. Since he came to this world, he did not have any loyalties to any of the barons or dukes of this land. With Dukes allowing their barons to fight it out over territory and silver is a waste of good talent and resources that could be used to improve the people's lives of this world. Tex looks at the women around them that all had fear on their faces. Each of them fearing that anytime they will be drag back into the horror, they were living in the last few weeks. Tex realizes that he can not stand aside and allow these people to come to harm. The idea of a simple ranch has somehow become complicated.

First, he needs to rescue the children and get them and the women to safety. Then he needs to save the men to the west. Watching the men on horseback disappear to the west trampling over the tracks they made. Tex gave a sigh of relief before dropping his telescopic vision.

Tex checks on the green skin woman while chatting with those that were caring for the injured woman. Seeing most of the wounds and a few scars were missing from her back. He turns to talk to women for a while and calm their fear. He moves off to comfort several more women to make sure they were okay and need if they needed anything thing. He learns that most of them were sold or lost love ones with no place to go and were worried about their futures. Many of them know that going back would lead them back into the baron's hands.

Unnoticed by Tex as he moves away, the green-skinned woman stirred and mumble, "Tex? Is that you?" Before falling back into a restless sleep full of images and memories, she doesn't understand.